A single moment of insight
by ViodeOfNexus
Summary: A single pebble thrown into water can contort the image into something unrecognisable. A single person thrown into the world can change existence itself. The question is, will this butterfly's wings create, or destroy.
1. Chapter 1

**(An)** hey guys, welcome to the new story, I hope you enjoy, constructive criticism is always welcome

 **chapter 1: A single moment of insight.**

It was a calm night, as the leaves danced in the wind and the stars reflected in the eyes of those who bothered to look, he strode through the streets of his home. And like a wraith he seemingly glided along his path, measured steps took him ever closer to his destination, and a single glance to his right would change the very nature of existence.

A single child sat at the very edge of the small walkway, the lakes water twinkling in tune with the stars of the sky, seemingly staring into nothing as he sat at the edge of the dock. He found himself moving towards the small form, wondering why it was out so late. He came to a stop only when he stood next to the child, clearing his throat for attention.

The child's eyes did not move, staring up at the stars as they were, but he knew he had been seen.

"Greetings, Itachi-sama" came the almost inaudible voice.

Only then did he notice the fan that decorated the front of the child's shirt. "To you as well, young one" he nodded marginally in greeting "May I ask what you are doing out this late?" The child slowly turned his eyes to him, he would not scold himself for being unable to recognise the child as an Uchiha at first glance, for his dark violet eyes and pale skin framed by hair as white as freshly fallen snow were definitely not characteristics one would ever consider when searching for one. He knew the child was not adopted, as that had never before happened in the entire history of the clan. He might have simply been wearing the clans crest out of ignorance, but the recognition and deference shown ruled out that possibility.

"I am trying to understand" he spoke, contemplation clear in his voice.

"Understand what exactly?"

His eyes moved back to the stars "everything."

There was silence as he considered the child's words, as broad as his answer was, it was also extremely vague.

"I'm afraid I do not understand" he spoke softly.

Violet eyes never left the stars "neither do I"

"And you wish to change this?" He asked softly. The child turned his attention to him again, nodding slowly. His gaze once more moved away, this time his eyes focused on the lake as he threw a small pebble and watched the water ripple, contorting the reflection of the stars. "What do you see?" The child asked softly.

He stared at the water until it had settled, considering his response "I see the the stars and the moon, the sky and the clouds. What is it you see?"

The boy looked back up at the stars and allowed his gaze to roam before moving back down to the water "I see lies" he responded softly.

"And how are the stars lying?" He inquired, intrigued. The child turned his eyes back to him, finally giving him his full attention, "it is not the stars that lie" he said slowly "rather the water that pretends to be the stars"

He nodded, gazing into the water rather than what it reflected "I can not help but feel that this is merely a metaphor for something you are trying to convey"

There was a spark in the child's eyes as he turned back, and he nodded. He could see the happiness and excitement in his posture now that he had come to that conclusion. "Would you mind explaining further?"

He received a small smile in return as the child moved his gaze back over the water "there is a vail over this world" His voice was soft, and his gaze distant "we see merely what we are meant to, lead along by a single strand." He paused as his gaze moved back to the stars "and it is all merely a reflection of what we truly are, and why we truly exist"

His gaze settled back on Itachi as he mulled over these words. "how do you know this" the question was asked softly, but with unmistakable curiosity.

The white haired boy smiled at him, and for the first time he realised just how intense the childs stare was

"because I've seen it."

"And what exactly have you seen…" he trialed off, suddenly realising he didn't know his name.

Luckily the boy seemed to catch on, and he smiled once more "my name is Naruto Uchiha, Itachi-sama"

'A strange name' Itachi thought to himself "so what is it that you have seen, Naruto-kun?"

"The abyss" came the happy response.

He glanced at the child in slight surprise, considering calling him out on a bluff. But looking into his eyes, Itachi knew the child believed what he was saying. 'How very strange indeed'

 **Chapter end:**

 **(An)** very short I know, but a perfect plave to end the chapter. This fic is going to be epic I have so many plans for it, and for anyone worried about paradox of space and time, dont be, it will still be my main fic. This one I plan to do slowly and methodically, it needs to be done right. Thanks for reading!


	2. Ripples

Another installment of my newest fic, hope you guys enjoy.

Please note that I have written this out on my phone that does not have spell check, so expect a few errors here and there.

Chapter 2: Ripples

Itachi sat camly, his father at the head of the table, his mother on the left, his brother at the far end, with himself seated on the right. His mind was still on the encounter with the child who could be no older than his brother. Even now, watching as Sasuke spoke with a smile and the naivety of a child typical of his age, he couldn't help but compare the two.

He shook his head lightly, the movement immediately attracting the attention of his father, the perpetual frown that forever marred his visage firmly in place.

"Is something the matter, Itachi?" The man spoke seemingly without a care, as if asking more out of obligation than any genuine concern.

"Nothing of genuine importance, Tou-sama" his voice carried over the dining table with its usual current of politeness and professionalism, drawing the attention of both his mother and younger sibling, the later of which turned his attention completely unto him. More than likely hoping to hear some form of technique or mission discussed, the child was obsessed with becoming a shinobi and proving his worth to his father after all.

"It must be of importance if your so preoccupied that you have barely touched your meal" the man spoke with a grunt while gesturing towards his half eaten dish, cabbage with a side of onigiri, it was his favourite.

He sighed softly before placing his chopsticks down, wondering if he should even bother asking, but decided it couldn't hurt "I met a child today, out on the dock within the clan grounds. His name was Naruto."

It was a statement more than it was a question, but the way is fathers face scrunched up in disgust meant that he did indeed know of the child.

"Ah yes, that one. Quite a shame really" his lips had puckered as if sucking on a lemon, drawing confusion from his mother and Sasuke, his father wasn't usually that open with his opinion unless it was to do with the clan, which Itachi knew it was.

"May I ask what brings you such distress at his mention? Tou-sama" he posed the question softly, but his father seemed to be even more disinclined to answer at his insistence, but eventually opened his mouth to continue.

"He is the illegitimate child of Uchiha Kagomi, she was a respected kunoichi amongst the clan at one point, but soiled herself and her reputation after returning pregnant from a mission to kiri." His mood had soured further and he shook his head ruefully.

"Even illegitimate, he is still a part of the clan Tou-sama" he spoke softly as he saw his father grimace further at his words, knowing they were true.

"Be that as it may" his father nodded slowly "the doctors have come to the conclusion that it would be near impossible for him to develop the sharingan, seeing as the foreign blood that runs through him has suppressed most of the clans genes."

'So that's the reason' Itachi turned this thought over in his head, knowing that his father and clan took great pride in the sharingan and the blood that flowed through their vains, it was one thing to never develop the sharingan, it was another thing entirely to have your genes marred to the point of barely being recognised as part of the clan. At least in his clans eyes, he never put much stock into those things, there were many a great ninja who did well without them.

"Even so, is it not still possible for him to develop our kekkei genkai?" He asked more for his father's sake than his "and looking beyond that, Kiri is infamous for its many clans, perhaps our genes are suppressed due to the presence of another limit?"

His father shook his head stubbornly "the doctors who examined the child assured me the chances of that happening are negligible, even though there was a positive result on the bloodlimit examination we cannot be sure if it's merely picking up on the blood of the Uchiha or a secondary limit that may be present. The child's mother was very tight lipped on just who gave her the child after all."

"I see" Itachi responded softly "but you cannot blame a child for the mistakes of their parents" he said this more for the sake of his father, who he knew placed great stock in the clans blood.

His father seemed to agree with him, if only slightly. The man was stubborn and proud, but knew he couldn't place the blame on the boy.

"Will he be trained as a shinobi?" The question came suddenly, and his father pondered over the words.

"If that is the boys wish then I suppose it couldn't do much harm, but he would need to prove his ability before that in order to make sure the clan is not viewed as week, even with the blood as diluted as it is"

He knew his father was merely trying to protect the image of the clan, not all Uchiha had the sharingan, even some of the shinobi, but the clan needed to be seen as one of the strongest, as they had always been.

This meant the child would need to perform the coming of age ritual all Uchiha had to go through, being able to produce the grand fireball technique to an acceptable level, if an Uchiha was not able to do so by their twelfth birthday, then they were barred from being a shinobi.

"Very well, Itachi acquiesced "but seeing as you speak of his mother in the past tense, I can only assume she is no longer among the living?"

His father sighed, before nodding slowly "Kyuubi."

Itachi nodded, having come to that conclusion already "then it falls to you as clan head to assign someone the duty of teaching him."

His father sighed again, knowing it was true. Before Sasuke, who had been doing his best to remain silent suddenly found himself unable to do so any longer.

"That's not fair!" He half shouted, half whined "if this other kid gets to learn it then I should to" he crossed his arms petulantly, knowing what they were speaking of, as he'd been nagging both itachi and their father for months now to learn the technique.

His father's frown was heavily pronounced, as was the disapproval at the boys actions, he opened his mouth to say something when Itachi cut him off.

"Perhaps you and I may start mentoring Sasuke in the technique as early as tomorrow, I learnt it at a much earlier age after all."

His father frowned further, seemingly mulling over his words, as Sasuke's eyes shone in hopefulness toward his father and gratitude toward his brother.

Eventually he nodded "very well then" he turned to Itachi "bring the other child with you, he may as well attempt it tomorrow with Sasuke"

Itachi was slightly surprised at these words, he was actually going to suggest the same thing, but he had never imagined his father would be the one to do so. He nodded marginally.

Sasuke only seemed slightly put out at having to learn it with another, likely far to excited at finally getting his wish to care all to much.

"Yatta" the boy exclaimed softly, turning his attention to his father "arigatou otou-sama!"

His father nodded marginally at the boy, the faintest of smiles on his face at seeing his exuberance, something he never experienced with Itach.

Itachi smirked slightly, tomorrow would definitely be interesting.

the next day

Itachi walked purposefully towards the childs home, he was given the address by his father that morning. It was a simple house, and it belonged to one of the civilians of the clan, any orphaned Uchiha were looked after by the clan, often being paced under a non shinobi's care, the money to look after the child was taken from the clans account, rather than the guardians taking care of them. It worked well, sinve people were a lot more open to a child not their own when the money didn't come from their pocket.

He knocked twice and waited, after a bit of shuffling a woman who looked to be nearing her fifties opened the door, staring in slight surprise that the heir of the clan stood at her doorstep.

"Itachi-kun!" She smiled brightly, and only then did he realise he had met her before, she owned the bakery down the street after all, she was also a distant aunt of her father, one who had never had an interest in the shinobi lifestyle.

"Nanami-san" he said politely.

She gestured for him to come inside, and he stepped through the door with a thankful nod, looking around her modest house with slight interest, it seemed she enjoyed collecting porcelain dolls, as they were lined up on many a shelf.

"You've just missed Daichi, he left about five minutes ago to open up shop" she explained happily "now what is it I can do for you Itachi-kun?"

He nodded in acceptance of the words, wondering how to broach the subject, he had no idea how close she was to the chold after all.

"I'm actually here to speak to Naruto-kun" he smiled softly at her gobsmacked face.

"Already?" She questioned softly "I thought it would be a few more years before he was tested" she of course knew the clans traditions and what was expected of the orphans, if you couldn't be a ninja you were at least expected to do something to benefit the clan 'they're starting them earlier and earlier these days' she thought while shaking her head.

"Naruto-kun!" She called out load enough for her voice to carry through the house, there was a bit of shuffling before a soft

"Coming Nanami-san" reached their ears.

She looked over at Itachi sadly "take good care of him you hear? He's a good boy with a good heart, scarred as it is, the poor thing."

He was about to ask what she meant when the boy in question appeared from the hallway, looking quite surprised to see him, he bowed quickly.

"Itachi-sama" his voice was soft and confused.

"Hello Naruto-kun" he spoke softly, not wanting to scare him off "I've come to speak with you."

His face lit up at the words, and Nanami smiled at the scene "you two just take a seat, I'll be back with some tea and cookies" she turned and moved into the kitchen.

He sat down into the sofa and watched as the boy did the same, he smiled disarmingly at the child and received one im return.

"Now, Naruto-kun, I'm sure you know about the right of passage all Uchiha go through at some stage" the child nodded and he continued "I'm here to ask if you're interested in becoming a shinobi?"

The boy regarded his words carefully, violet eyes sparkling in curiosity "will it help me understand?" He asked seriously.

Itachi would have sighed, but he held it in, he still wasn't completely sure just what the child wanted to understand, it didn't help that the boy didn't know either.

"I cannot answer that for you, but I'm sure you will be able to figure it out in due time."

White hair bobbed up and down in understanding, before a smile crossed his face "ok"

At that point Nanami re entered the room, carrying a tray with tea and snacks "here you are" she said happily, placing the tray down.

"Sorry Nanami-san" Naruto stood up quickly "I have to go and prepare" he smiled brightly at her.

She nodded sadly, but perked up and gestured towards the corridor "well then off you go, you don't want to keep Itachi-kun waiting do you?"

He shook his head and dashed ofd down the hallway.

The woman sighed softly as she sat, pouring a cup of tea for herself and her guest.

"Here you go Itachi-kun" she spoke as she handed him the teacup and a small tray, he nodded thankfully before taking a small sip.

They sat in silence for a while, before he decided to ask the question that had been burning around in his mind up until that moment "Nanami-san, if it's not to much to ask, what did you mean earlier when you mentioned him being scarred?"

She smiled sadly at him "I suppose you wouldn't know" she shook her head softly "the poor things been through a lot, still has nightmares he does."

Itachi cocked his head slightly, she seemed to notice and sighed again.

"He was only two years when the Kyuubi attacked" so he was correct, the boy was Sasuke's age "poor boy was out of the compound with his mother at the time, she had taken him out of the walls to collect flowers and herbs for her shop, she had taken to medicine after quiting the life of a shinobi, for the boys sake" she smiled sadly here "ironic really, she may have jusy survived if she hadn't"

She sighed once more before continuing the tale "he doesn't remember much, but the sight of the beast stepping on his mother will probably stay with him for the rest of his life"

He was quite surprised at her words, he couldn't imagine being that close to the Kyuubi, the chakra and malice it had given off had made Sasuke scream and himself freeze up kilometres away, it must have been truly frightening.

She nodded at the understanding on his face "poor thing, he swears he saw the shinigami himself, says it reached out and touched him. I can almost imagine it to be the truth, staring up at the thing that killed your mother" she shivered here "I could feel it across the entire village as it were" she nodded here, a sad smile on her face "kids a fighter though, probably make a good ninja, that he will."

Itachi nodded slowly "thank you for sharing this with me, Nanami-san, I give you my word I will take care of him"

She smiled at him gratefully, just as the subject of their conversation moved out the hallway into the living room, smiling brightly at him.

"I'm ready, itachi-sama."

He nodded to the boy and stood up, having finished the tea while speaking to the woman, she smiled sadly once more as they were ushered out the house after he had thanked the woman for her hospitality.

"Bye Nanami-san, see you later!" The boy called out as they made their way down the street, she nodded at him and waved goodbye.

Itachi watched the child as the moved down the streets toward the dock where Sasuke and his father were probably already waiting, the white hair and violet eyes made him an oddity in tge compound, but it seemed most od the civilians knew him as they smiled as the boy passed, most out of pity and sadness, probably knowing the child's story.

The walk passed by in silence as he studied the child closely, he moved with a grace not many shinobi had, taking long strides for his short stature, they made it to the dock where both Sasuke and Fugaku stood waiting, the child froze for a second and looked over at Itachi, who nodded marginally to let him know it wad ok, as they aprouched the clan head and his second born, he bowed deeply.

"Fugaku-sama, it is an honour" he seemed well versed in manners at least, it would paint a good picture for his father.

The clan head nodded towards him, serious as he qestured towards Sasuke to take a place beside the white haired child, the raven haired boy was giving him a strange look, but decided not to comment in the wake of his excitement.

"Now then, you both understand why you are here?" He got two nodding heads in response "very well then, as you both know, it is a requirement for all Uchiha who wish to become shinobi to be able to perform this technique, I expect the best performance from you both" although Itachi noted he was looking at Sasuke when he said this.

"The hand signs are Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger" he went through the hand motions as he pronounced the symbols they signified, going through it twice more to allow the children the chance to memorise them.

Both of them stumbled through the motions the first few times they attempted them, Naruto getting it done much faster then Sasuke, they were obviously very slow in doing so, their hands not used to the movements. Fugaku nodded when they got them right "now then, you both know how to draw upon your chakra?" He knew he asked it more for Naruto's sake, since he knew for a fact that Sasuke could, but he received two nods in response and moved on.

"Now then, while making the hand signs you will knead the chakra in your throat, it will be strange and difficult at first, but you should get the feeling for it after the first couple of tries, imagine lighting a match as you exhale, allow the chakra to escape your mouth before giving any thought to ignition, the hand signs will do the rest"

Sasuke nodded resolutely, while naruto seemed to be deeply considering the man's words, as such, he gestured Sasuke forward first.

The boy moved up to the end of the wooden walkway, slowly moving through the signs he had memorised, his chest puffed up with the air he drew in "fire style: great fireball technique" he exclaimed as he blew out the air he had drawn into his lungs, a small puff of smoke was his reward.

His father said nothing, but he knew he had wanted to shake his head, Itachi had at least produced a small stream of flame at the same age, he gestured for a disappointed Sasuke to move up beside him as he nodded "well done, keep practicing and it will come to you" he motioned for Naruto to take a place at the end of the dock.

The child walked up slowly, stopping at the edge, a look of intense internal debate on his face as he brought up his hands, shaking his head as his visage shifted into determination. He moved through the hand signs slowly and meticulously, drawing in a deep breath.

"Fire style: great fireball technique!" He he annunciated clearly.

The stream of fire that flowed out his mouth was akin to the gates of hell itself being opened.

 **Chapter end:**

(An) well here we are, chapter two, hope this clears some things up, and raises more questions, and before anyone asks, no, I did not get the date of the kyuubi attack wrong.

To address what would be a major concern for many at this point, itachi isn't the emotionless robot we see for most of canon because of one very obvious fact, the Uchiha aren't dead, we see much of his back story in the later episodes, so by now we should all know he wasn't some completely unfeeling machine, just wanted to clear this up in case some people accused me of making him OC. As for the clan, you'll all see what I've done soon enough.

Update for paradox of space and time coming around Friday, Sunday at the latest.


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